Saturday, March 5, 2011

Check Vegas Nationwide Series TV Schedule For Your Area

This Saturday's Nationwide Series telecast from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway starts at 2:30PM ET with NASCAR Countdown and then 3PM brings race coverage. Instead of ESPN2, the Vegas race is on ABC. Therein lies the problem.

As we know from the original NASCAR TV deal, trying to serve all four US time zones with a live sporting event is sometimes pretty tricky. ABC stations not only carry local sports these days, but they also participate in regional sports TV packages and have other weekend local commitments.

This Saturday is a tough day for NASCAR, but give the ESPN/ABC team credit for getting ahead of the issue and offering details in advance of when, where and why the Nationwide Series race telecast might be affected in your area.

Before you read the details, you have to know one term. It's called a local TV station digital-tier or DT. When TV station signals changed from analog to digital, it gave stations the ability to send out more than one stream of programming. That is called multicasting.

Normally labeled simply DT2, DT3 and beyond, these over-the-air DT's are rarely carried on cable systems but are easily received by any current digital TV. Viewers have to check in the markets affected to see if these signals currently appear on cable or can be accessed from an over-the-air source in the home.

Here is the info on the markets affected and the explanation of what will be happening in that time period:

Des Moines, Iowa (WOI-TV) – due to Big 12 basketball game, pre-race show and race will air on the station’s DT2 channel (RTV).

Rochester, NY (WHAM-TV) – due to coverage of a local telethon, pre-race show and race will air on the station’s DT2 channel (CW).

Madison, WI (WKOW-TV) – due to coverage of WIAA state championships, pre-race show and race will air on DT2 (RTV).

LaCrosse, WI (WXOW-TV) -- due to coverage of WIAA state championships, pre-race show and race will air on DT2 (CW).

Wausau, WI (WAOW-TV) -- due to coverage of WIAA state championships, pre-race show and race will air on DT2 (CW).

Bowling Green, KY (WBKO-TV) – due to coverage of SEC basketball, pre-race show and race will air on WBKO-Fox DT2.

Columbia, SC (WOLO-TV) – due to coverage of ACC basketball, pre-race show and race will air on DT3.

Little Rock, AR (KATV-TV) -- due to coverage of SEC basketball, pre-race show and race will air on DT2.

Jonesboro, AR (KAIT-TV) -- due to coverage of SEC basketball, pre-race show and race will air on DT2.

Baltimore, MD (WMAR-TV) – due to coverage of local lacrosse, pre-race show will air on DT2. Race will air on regular channel.

Louisville, KY (WHAS-TV) – due to coverage of Big East basketball, pre-race show will air on WBKI-TV. Race will air on regular channel.

Beckley-Oak Hill-Bluefield, WV (WOAY-TV) – due to coverage of West Virginia University basketball, pre-race show will be pre-empted. Race telecast will be joined in progress at 4 p.m. ET.

Beaumont, TX (KBMT-TV) – due to coverage of local basketball game and Big 12 game, pre-race show will be pre-empted and race will be joined in progress at 3 p.m. CT.

Well, there you have it straight from the ESPN folks responsible for getting this NASCAR product distributed. Let's see if we can address some of the issues that may arise as folks read this information.

First, this Nationwide Series race is not going to change TV networks. It will stay on ABC and these plans will be the ones that will stay in place. Secondly, races cannot be made available online as ABC/ESPN does not own the Internet video rights for the Nationwide Series. Third, there are no plans to add a RaceBuddy style online application for this race or any other Nationwide Series race this season.

Home satellite dish owners living in the affected areas may find easy ways around these problems, but for cable TV viewers the cable companies must simply pass along the local ABC station signal that is provided to them. There are no other options.

Hopefully this will head-off some problems this weekend by letting fans know this information in advance. If you are going to be without TV access to this race in your area, SPEED will be re-airing the program at noon ET the following Thursday.

Thanks again to the ESPN Motorsports PR folks for the information. We invite reader comments and will be happy to try and answer any questions about these issues you may have. Post them and we will work on answers through our contacts. Just click on the comments button below to add your comment. Thanks for stopping by.

23 comments:

saltsburgtrojanfan
said...

Well Well Well

NASCAR is trying to stuff 10 pounds in a 5 pound bag. Affiliates having other programming commitments meaning NASCAR is getting the short end of the stick, again. Why NASCAR put the sport on ABC is beyond me.

JD, if this is going to continue to be a problem. Why can't ABC tape delay the busch series races like they did in the good old days, not for those stations affected, but for all ABC stations.

I can't say I'm too surprised. No disrespect to the drivers of the Nationwide series, but it *IS* a minor-league/development league. You can't be too surprised when a network opts not to show a race when the stands are empty, most race fans can't name most of the field, and the contest is unrelated to the Sprint Cup.

I have DirecTV and have encountered problems like this in the past with local UT games and other programs. I soon purchased west coast channels as well as New York stations. This way I have three options and surly can find my programming on one of them. Costs extra but better than missing my racing!

Wow, well just reading that made my head hurt. Saturday is supposed to be the nice day of the weekend. Maybe I'll check out the end of the N'wide race - assuming that it is broadcast on my ABC station but based on the rather poor broadcast that ESPN has provided in the 2 races so far this season, I'm not going to rush inside to do it.

To most of the public, the Nationwide series is a tiny blip or less. It is viewed by many as a glorified practice session for the Cup drivers against a field of unknown drivers. Regional college sports are far more important to them and they might watch parts of the race if there is nothing else on that interests them and the weather is bad. I expect the TV ratings will drop as the weather gets better regardless of who airs the races.

So far, NASCAR’s new policy of limiting drivers to earning championship points in one series seems to have several unintended consequences.

A grand total of zero points were earned by the drivers who won the first five NASCAR races of the season, including the Daytona 500.

That may be a statistical oddity, but there also seems to be a growing uproar over how ESPN covers the emerging championship battle in the Nationwide Series, which is likely to produce many race winners this season not running for the title.

Let’s be clear: NASCAR’s new policy ensures there will be a new Nationwide Series champion this season, but nothing it did ever guaranteed anybody new would win the series races so long as those who have been participating in it continued to do so.

In other words, it’s perfectly possible for the Nationwide champion this year to have won zero races.

Now, some seem to think ESPN is obligated to produce almost separate coverage of the drivers in each race running for the championship but perhaps not in contention for the win.

That’s silly.

Networks sign up to broadcast and cover races – not points standings. This week’s race is in Las Vegas, not this week’s championship battle.

The last thing I want is for a network to feel compelled to produce and cover “fake drama” totally irrelevant to what is taking place on the track. We already have a Chase in the Sprint Cup Series for that, thank you.

Fans don't buy tickets to sit in the stands, calculator in hand, to see how the points play out. They watch to see who wins the race.

The new NASCAR policy may have changed who wins a series title but by no means did it guarantee new race winners or alter the way a race should be covered.

If that’s what NASCAR wanted, it should have come up with a better plan.

SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY – MARCH 3, 2011

In Charlotte, Jim Utter reports there "seems to be a growing uproar over how ESPN covers the emerging championship battle in the Nationwide Series, which is likely to produce many race winners this season not running for the title." NASCAR has a "new policy of limiting drivers to earning championship points in one series," and some believe ESPN is "obligated to produce almost separate coverage of the drivers in each race running for the championship but perhaps not in contention for the win." Utter writes networks "sign up to broadcast and cover races -- not points standings." Utter: "The new NASCAR policy may have changed who wins a series title but by no means did it guarantee new race winners or alter the way a race should be covered. If that's what NASCAR wanted, it should have come up with a better plan" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/3).

I know this column concerns schedule conflicts, but I can't let the anon 4:22 post pass by without comment. I have not read Utter's columns. Assuming anon 4:22 has posted Utter's remarks accurately, I see only three possibilities: (1) Utter has a very dry sense of humor and is pulling everyone's leg, (2) Utter has never seen an ESPN broadcast of a cup race, or (3) Utter is a fool.

Anyone who has watched ESPN's broadcast of cup races knows ESPN is obsessed with a few drivers who are in contention for the SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP. They constantly talk about points as they run during a race. A driver who is running in the top five during a race and contending for a win is ignored unless he is also among the chosen few contending for the SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP.

Now Utter contends ESPN has no responsibility to cover drivers contending for a SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP in the Nationwide series. Now all that matters is who contends for the win in individual races. Utter is content to let ESPN follow a few cup drivers as they stink up the Nationwide series.

I guess Utter thinks that ESPN is too lazy and incompetent to cover more than half a dozen drivers. On that point, I tend to agree. ESPN has repeatedly shown itself to be lazy and incompetent. The difference is that Utter accepts ESPN's lousy broadcasts and defends them while I criticize ESPN and demand better.

ESPN's lousy coverage of Nationwide races is helping to kill the series. Apologists like Utter aren't helping the situation. Everyone should be demanding better coverage that includes the full-time Nationwide drivers competing for the season championship.

And race fans got stuck with this? I had high hopes ESPN would do us justice when they returned but we were quickly disappointed. This is just another disappointment in a long line of disappointments the TV contracts have delivered.

See, this is why I celebrated when the then-Busch series was picked up by a cable network. It was bad enough when those races were dumped by affiliates for college football, but now by baseball?

I don't blame affiliates for carrying the programming they think will draw the largest audience. I blame NASCAR for signing contracts without ensuring their races will actually be seen. But as long as the checks keep clearing, the sanctioning body won't care. At least, not until it's time to renew the contract for a series no one is watching anymore because the fans can't find it.

Anything is possible, but that doesn't necessaryily make it true or pertinent. ESPN is not just broadcasting to Jim Utter's readers or the Charlotte market. ESPN is the primary means by which NASCAR delivers the Nationwide series to the entire United States.

ESPN has been essentially the sole provider of TV broadcasts of the Nationwide series for several years now. Have you checked national ratings over that period? Television viewers are voting with their remote controls, their wallets, and their feet.

You can stick with Utter's pearls of wisdom if you choose. I think for myself and watch the national TV ratings to see whether or not the national TV audience agrees or disagrees with me. So far it looks like more agree with me than with Utter.

These are syndicated packages. Our local market is WOLO and we had controversy 15 years ago when we had two ABC affiliates (WCIV Charleston the other) on our TWC system; when WCIV was dropped, controversy broke out. We lost six NASCAR races because of WOLO's ineptitude.

WOLO DT 3 is not available on our TWC system (DT1 and DT2 are on our system, but not DT3) and is SD only, so the only way to get the race in HD is a 3 AM rebroadcast on ESPN2.